[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 39 (Monday, October 1, 2007)]
[Pages 1244-1245]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 
of Brazil in New York City

September 24, 2007

    President Bush. It's a pleasure to be with my friend the President 
of Brazil. Every time we visit, it's always a fruitful and important 
discussion. We talked about climate change. And I assured the President 
that the event we're having in Washington--which he kindly is coming 
to--is an important meeting about reaching international consensus on 
how to move together on the issue of climate change.
    We talked about alternative fuels. Brazil, under President Lula's 
leadership, is a leading producer of ethanol. And he is an evangelist on 
the subject. And I appreciate very much his leadership, because I 
believe the United States will benefit from ethanol. And so I look 
forward to working with you. And I want to thank you for your leadership 
in Haiti.
    And finally, we had a good discussion on Doha. We share a commitment 
to a successful round of trade talks. And I assured the President that 
the United States would show flexibility, particularly on agricultural 
goods, in order to help achieve a breakthrough. So I want to thank you 
for the conversation. It's a joy being with you.
    President Lula. First of all, I would like to thank for the 
opportunity once again to be here with President Bush and with members 
of his Cabinet. Secondly, we are convinced that on the climate change 
and the Doha round, we're still dependent on some factors. And one of 
these factors is the willingness of an important country like the U.S. 
demonstrating its capability to be flexible.
    And President Bush has demonstrated the willingness to reach an 
agreement--in the many different conversations that we have had, he has 
demonstrated very clearly his willingness. And the U.S. is willing to be 
more flexible. And he's also willing to discuss with all countries on 
climate change. And this has been Brazil's position.

[[Page 1245]]

    We are convinced that the Doha round is a need; it's something that 
is a necessity for the rich and for the poor countries. And we'll be--
the rich and the developing countries could give a contribution for the 
less developed countries.

    And at the same time, the climate issue is an issue that involves 
all the human beings on the planet Earth. So all of us, we share 
responsibility to take care of the planet that we will leave for our 
grandsons and for our grand-grandsons. We don't want to try to find who 
to put the blame on or who is innocent. What matters is that everybody 
has to take care of the planet, because if we don't take of the planet 
Earth, we will all have something to lose.

    I once again told President Bush that Brazil is willing to do its 
share on the climate issue, as also to cope with what we have to cope 
with, from the deforestation of the rain forest in the Amazon, which we 
managed to reduce in 52 percent in the year.

    And on the Doha round, Brazil is willing to do whatever is necessary 
so that we can reach a deal very--[inaudible]. If we manage to convince 
important countries like China, India, South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, 
plus the European Union and Japan, I believe that we can, in the next 
phase, announce good measures as related to the Doha round, as also on 
the climate change.

    So what we are demonstrating is that the issue exists. No one has a 
definite solution. We are in--just in a learning process on how to cope 
with this issue. And we all want to do our homework. The demonstration 
of the political will President Bush has, and myself, is, we're sending 
a signal that no one owns the truth; everybody knows a little bit and 
doesn't know so much a little bit too. We want together to add up our 
knowledge so that we can find the best solutions. Thank you.

    President Bush. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 6:48 p.m. at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. 
President Lula da Silva spoke in Portuguese, and his remarks were 
translated by an interpreter.